


I Wish I May

by corvidkohai



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27648851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvidkohai/pseuds/corvidkohai
Summary: Genesis, in a fit of desperation over his degradation, tries wishing on a star for his cure. He wasn’t expecting it to work, least of all for said star to fall from the sky and help him in person. Good thing Cloud Strife didn’t expect Genesis to know he was coming.
Relationships: Genesis Rhapsodos/Cloud Strife
Comments: 27
Kudos: 183





	1. Chapter 1

Genesis refused to believe it was hopeless. He refused, adamantly and with every scrap of his will. There were still a few avenues left. Hollander kept making his promises, though they’d begun to ring hollow. He had said something about Sephiroth’s genetics, and maybe Genesis could track him down. 

He refused to believe it was hopeless, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t aware that his current options weren’t looking great. As he sat on a rickety chair, looking out a window and listening to Hollander putter around, he decided to brainstorm. 

He liked to think of himself as creative, and when he brainstormed, no option was off the table. It didn’t matter how impractical, how fanciful—the idea itself could do no harm. He rarely acted on the more ridiculous notions, but occasionally they had worked out excellently. 

He wasn’t sure where the idea sprang from. He could just hear Gillian’s distant voice, a remembrance of her telling him and Angeal folktales for entertainment. She had sworn up and down that if you wished on the first star you saw at night, your wish would come true. It was fanciful, to say the least. But it couldn’t hurt. No one would ever  _ know _ he’d wished. It wouldn’t take very long. 

There was no harm in trying, and deny it how he might, desperation was starting to gnaw on his bones. So he stared attentively out the murky window, eyes peeled for the first glimmer of light. 

As he saw it, he remembered the rhyme that was supposed to be the key to the spell. He’d always had a head for poetry, after all. 

_ Star light, star bright  _

_ First star I see tonight; _

_ I wish I may, I wish I might _

_ Have this wish I wish tonight: _

Then, with all the force of his will, with every scrap of desperation, he hurled his wish silently into the night sky. 

_ I wish my degradation was cured.  _

Genesis waited a long moment. 

Nothing happened. 

He sighed and went to go see what Hollander was doing, trying to deny how he felt a little foolish. 

———-

No. 

No. 

No, nononononono. 

He wasn’t ready. 

Cloud felt the panic rising up along his sternum as he looked down at his hands, fading and turning to dust as he watched. He looked up at his mother, expecting her to share his panic, but she looked proud and fond instead. 

She kissed his still-solid forehead as the rest of him quickly melted away. 

“You’ll do great, baby. Knock ‘em dead.”

“What if I mess up? What if I can’t do it?”

“You’ve been training your whole life for this, Stormcloud. You’ll know what to do. You’re a Strife, after all.”

Cloud swallowed hard as his throat crumbled. His mother watched him, misty eyed but proud, and gave him a firm nod. Neither knew when, or if, they’d see each other again. It made the whole thing as bittersweet as it was panic-inducing. 

Cloud tried to tell her he loved her, but then his mouth faded away. 

He could distantly feel how he rocketed through the sky, though the sensation was strange. He knew that from Gaia down below, he’d be beautiful. That didn’t much matter to Cloud. He was too busy being nervous. 

This was Cloud’s first time going to Gaia. He, like all other stars, only left the Sky when they were wished upon properly, with a certain amount of true and honest desperation fueling the desire. It was only for dire need that the stars fell. 

Most stars never fell at all, but each of them trained rigorously in the case that they did. Cloud was top of his class in magic and fared well in swordplay. He knew, logically, that it would probably be fine. But his heart told him he wasn’t ready, that he still had so much training to do, the honor should go to someone more deserving. 

But they didn’t pick who fell. There was a veil between the Sky and Gaia, and who it fell from first each night was anyone’s guess. Who the humans saw first was up to whimsy and Fate. 

So when Cloud woke up, lying on his back in a dingy room somewhere with a sword point inches from his eye, he couldn’t help cursing Fate. 

He held up his hands slowly. 

“Who are you? How did you get in here?” the redhead asked, not moving his equally red sword. He matched the image that had appeared in Cloud’s head when he heard the wish. 

“You called for me.”

The redhead looked offended as he said, “I’ve done no such thing. I don’t even know who you are.”

“My name is Cloud Strife. Can I sit up?”

“You may not. What have you come for, Cloud Strife?”

“To help. You want your degradation cured, don’t you?”

The redhead went very, very still, his eyes calculating. 

“How do you know about that?”

“You wished on me. You asked for a cure. I’m here to grant that wish.”

The point of the red sword wavered as Genesis remembered he’d told no one of the wish, then inched away. 

“That stupid star thing?”

“You didn’t think it was stupid when you wished. It wouldn’t have worked if you did.”

He lowered the sword altogether, saying, “Let me get his straight. I wished on a star, and… I get a gangly blond instead of my wish?”

Cloud frowned. 

“I’m a star. I’m just here to do my job.”

“Do you have magic of some sort that I don’t?”

“Yes. We wouldn’t be wish-granters if we didn’t.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Fix it.”

Cloud frowned harder. 

“It isn’t instant. I don’t just wave a wand and grant your wish.”

“Then how do you grant it?”

“Depends on the wish. Yours will be magic, most likely. But I need to understand what’s happening, what exactly degradation means. Sit and explain, and I’ll help. What’s your name?”

There was a pause, then a grand sigh. The redhead sat across from him and crossed his legs. 

“My name is Genesis. Degradation is related to Jenova cells.”

“Jenova, the parasite?”

“I assume? She’s an alien of some sort, to my knowledge.”

“Oh yes. She caused a big stir with the Cetra a while back. What does she have to do with this?”

“Evidently, her cells were injected into a human host, and then given to me.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Quite. Now my body is rejecting them. I can’t heal my wounds anymore. I’m aging. I feel like I’m falling apart at the seams. What can you do?”

“Hmm. Show me this wound?”

The chiton he wore, of a soft, pale yellow cloth, like all stars, was annoying to keep in line as he scooted forward, but he managed well enough. Genesis peeled away his coat and shirt to reveal a strange wound. It was clearly a cut, but looked blackened and almost burned around the edges, like it was decaying. 

Cloud hummed and laid his palm over the wound. It felt crisp and strange against his skin, but he focused carefully. The skin softened against his, yielded, and knit back together. When he pulled his hand away, the skin was whole, leaving only a faint whiteness in its wake. 

“There,” Cloud said, glad his magic was strong enough for this at least. 

Genesis touched the new skin gingerly, eyeing Cloud warily, until he felt it. Then he pressed his hand flat. He put pressure on it. Nothing. 

“How did you do that? No amount of curative magic or potions touched it.”

Cloud folded his hands in his lap. 

“I told you. The nature of our magics are different. You have specific types, your elementals and curatives and summons. We have one. Change.”

“ _ Change?” _

“Any wish is, at its core, asking for something to be different. A situation, a person, an item— _ something _ . You have a fate as things are, and you want to change it, but don’t have the means. We do. We change the essence, the spirit of a thing, and make it something else. We can’t create something from nothing, but we can take what exists and change it.”

Genesis, magic user that he was, looked fascinated. 

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“It’s unique to us. I doubt you’ll be able to replicate it.”

This caused Genesis to scowl, though he nodded. 

“Then can you just… change my physicality? Create balance between the Jenova cells and my own.”

“Yes. It will take ages, though.”

“What? Why?”

“I have to modify every cell. I have a mana supply, the same as you do, and I’m tapped for the day. Give me time.”

“Would ethers help?”

Cloud shook his head and said, “The essence of our mana is different. They wouldn’t do anything for me. My kind has tried, and it gave them a small ability to do  _ your  _ magic—but at cost to their own. They depleted their natural mana. It’d be counter-productive.”

Genesis looked frustrated. 

“There is  _ no _ way to speed this along?”

“No. I’ll go as fast as I can, but I have limits. Remember that an hour ago you didn’t have a ready cure at all,” Cloud reminded, his own temper flaring. He had always imagined a child as his wisher; they were usually the only ones willing to risk the “silliness” of trying. Instead he got a grown man with an attitude problem. Cloud didn’t need groveling, obviously, but a little gratitude would have been nice. His nerves over being able to complete his task went up in smoke with the fire of his temper. 

Genesis did not seem cowed so much as curious with the spark of his anger. He tilted his head, drumming his fingers on his knee for a long moment before getting to his feet. 

“Come along. We need to get out of here before Hollander sees you.”

“Who’s Hollander?”

“The scientist that gave me my Jenova cells. I was trying to wring a cure out of him, but that clearly is going nowhere fast.”

“Should we see if he can help?”

Genesis gave a laugh that was more grim than amused. 

“You sweet naive thing. A nearly mythical creature like you, near that man? Near his  _ colleagues _ ? You don’t want to know what would happen to you.”

Cloud frowned. He had no idea what that was supposed to mean. Stars could take care of themselves, just fine. Human belief in them was so sparse that they never pinned down the nature of their magic, much less how to counter it. 

“I think you underestimate me.”

“I think you underestimate humanity, and our creativity and cruelty alike. We can’t have you walking around barefoot dressed like you stepped from a painting anyway.”

Cloud looked down at himself, then back up at Genesis with a huff. 

“What’s wrong with my clothes?”

“We will need to go on the run, Cloud. I have been for quite a while now, but we need to evade Hollander as well, now. That requires that you  _ blend in _ .”

Cloud pressed his palm to his chest, and his chiton turned into a copy of Genesis’s outfit. 

Genesis looked at him twice, then yanked the red coat off Cloud’s shoulders, discarding it. He nodded then.

“You still need shoes.”

“Does  _ everyone _ wear them?”

“ _ Yes.” _

Cloud huffed again and looked around. He went over and grabbed a discarded cardboard box that turned to boots in his hand with a flash of light. He put them on, but was clearly unhappy about it. 

“Better?”

“Yes.”

“Where are we going, then?”

Genesis looked down at him. He went to the nearby window and threw it open, climbing out of it and waiting for Cloud to follow. 

“Away,” Genesis said, before he extended a wing from his back, grabbed Cloud around the waist, and took off. 

Cloud gasped at the sudden rush of wind, feeling very like he had when he had fallen from the Sky. He pinched his eyes shut and turned, wrapping his arms and legs around Genesis, who chuckled. He could probably survive the fall, but he didn’t particularly want to find out. 

The one thing Cloud was sure of, as he clung to Genesis, was that humans were  _ nothing _ like what he expected. 


	2. Chapter 2

“Where are we going?”

“I told you. Away.”

“Okay, but away  _ where?  _ You must have a destination in mind.”

“Destinations are contrary to the point of running. It isn’t about where you want to be, so much as where you  _ don’t  _ want to be.”

“So you’re just making this up as you go.”

“If you want to phrase it that way.”

Cloud huffed. He grabbed Genesis by the elbow, hauling him to a stop. 

“Shouldn’t we find somewhere safe? Somewhere to hole up as I cure you?”

“We can’t stay in place very long. It’s  _ dangerous _ , Cloud.”

“You keep saying that, but you never say what we’re running from.”

“Shinra.”

“ _ Shinra? _ How did you get on their bad side? Don’t they basically rule the world right now?”

“I was a high ranking member, and then defected to seek my cure, taking a large amount of SOLDIERs with me.”

“That’s stupid.”

Genesis scowled hard. 

“I was out of options.”

“Clearly you weren’t. You could have wished sooner.”

“It didn’t exactly strike me as likely that folktales were  _ accurate _ . This sort of thing is nothing more than superstition.”

Cloud folded his arms and looked out into the forest they were in. They had cover here. He didn’t see why they couldn’t stop right now. 

“Clearly it’s more. I’ll heal you, when you just  _ let _ me.”

Genesis sighed impatiently. 

“If it will get you to drop this,  _ fine _ ,” Genesis said, sitting gracefully. “But we only stay until you run out of mana.”

Cloud sighed; Genesis’s temper was going to irritate him for this whole process. Still, he sat across from Genesis, scooting close enough that their knees brushed. He reached out slowly, giving Genesis time to protest, but when he didn’t, Cloud pressed his palms to Genesis’s temples. Best to heal the brain first. Who knew what damage had been wrought. Maybe it would soothe Genesis’s godsdamn temper. He hoped it would. 

A soft yellow light emitted from Cloud’s palms, but was partially smothered by his grip on Genesis’s head. He worked slowly, finding each cell that needed correcting and altering it to work in harmony with the Jenova cells. He tried to alter those, just to see, but for some reason, they wouldn’t change. They seemed impervious to his magic, which was bad. But he could change the human cells easily enough, and that would still solve the problem. 

Still, it was absent-minded work, once he nailed down the process. It was very much like working with your hands without needing your full attention. 

So, Cloud asked, “How long have you been on the run?”

“A few months. Should you be talking?”

“I can work like this just fine. You’ve been with this Hollander the whole time?”

“And the men I took with me, but Hollander insisted we turn them into copies of me, to help keep us safe from Shinra.”

“That’s…”

“What was necessary.”

Cloud frowned and said, “If you say so. You said you were at Shinra before?”

“I was.”

“You didn't have friends who would help? Or family?”

Genesis scoffed and said, “My family has been a lost cause since I was a child. And my friends… they wouldn’t have come with me. One is too honor-bound to desert, the other is too subservient to Shinra.”

“Did you ask?”

Genesis’s eyes shot to Cloud’s, so Cloud looked back at him.

“What?”

“Did you ask, or did you just assume?”

Genesis scoffed, but his eyes looked doubtful. 

“I know those men like the back of my hand.”

“So you assumed. That’s never wise. People can surprise you.”

“Not them.”

“Sometimes the people you’re closest to surprise you the most.”

“And I suppose that’s experience talking,” Genesis said with a sneer. Cloud frowned at the expression and condescension alike. 

“It’s just common sense. The only person you can fully know is yourself. Everyone else can surprise you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Cloud sighed in irritation. 

“Then don’t listen to me, and lose your friends forever. It’s not my business.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“Because I was making  _ conversation _ . You want to sit here in silence while we stare at each other?”

“Tell me about  _ your _ home, then. You must have come from  _ somewhere _ .”

Cloud’s mouth tilted down. 

“What do you want to know?”

“Do you have materia like we do?”

“No, our magic is innate. We just have to learn control. Finesse. It’s a skill like any other.”

“Are you well trained?”

“Top of my class,” Cloud said, deliberately leaving out that he hadn’t graduated yet. 

Genesis hummed his consideration, looking Cloud over. 

“If you  _ weren’t  _ well trained, would you have been able to do this?”

“Maybe. It would have been clumsy. Modifying each cell requires fine control. I would have had to find an easier work-around.”

“Such as?”

“What does it matter? I  _ can _ do it this way, so I will. It’s more thorough, and I won’t have to worry about it coming undone when I leave.”

“So you’ll go back from whence you came?”

“Probably. I  _ could _ stay here, but there’s nothing for me here. If I had a reason to stay, I would. If not, I’ll go back as soon as my mana is restored enough to make the trip.”

A wry grin came over Genesis’s face as he said, “The life of a fugitive doesn't appeal to you?”

Cloud raised an eyebrow and looked back at Genesis. 

“ _ I _ am not on the bad side of anyone. No one knows me here. I could just begin a new life, if I wanted.”

“Not once you’re seen with me. You’ll be a target too.”

“Great,” Cloud grumbled. 

“Well, no matter. You’ll just return home, and I won’t be responsible for you.”

“ _ Respon— _ you’re not responsible for me now! You’re  _ my _ charge!”

Genesis gave him a scornful, doubtful look. 

“You would have gotten yourself killed in an instant without me here—or  _ worse _ , because there are worse things in store for you, if we’re caught. You don’t take our need to move seriously enough.”

“I take it plenty serious, and for the thousandth time, I can take care of my _ self _ . You’re  _ my _ wisher, that makes you my responsibility.”

“Ah yes, and how safe I feel in your tender care,” Genesis drawled, tone thick with sarcasm. 

“You are  _ so _ lucky I can’t just ditch you,” Cloud grumbled. 

“Why? Is it some honor code?”

“What? No. No, I’ll get sick, and I’ll fade until I go out. I’m on a timer to grant your wish, which is why I would  _ appreciate _ some cooperation—not to mention a little more focus on your wish, and a little less on running.”

Genesis hummed his understanding. 

“I knew you weren’t as altruistic as you seemed.”

“You’re just  _ cynical _ . To think I was excited to come help you.”

Genesis cooed at him and said, “Did I ruin your dreams?”

“I’m starting to think you were right, and that your friends  _ wouldn’t  _ have come with you, if this is what you act like.”

Genesis barked a laugh and said, wearing a fierce grin, “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I would have infuriated them away. Maybe they never cared at all.”

Cloud scowled and said, “That is  _ not _ what I said.”

“It’s what you implied.”

“You know what I mean, and you’re misunderstanding on purpose, so forget it.”

Genesis hummed and drawled, “Shame you’re bound to me, then.”

“Yes. Shame, that.”

Cloud decided to work in silence after that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear Genesis will not be a full tilt asshole for this whole fic


	3. Chapter 3

Cloud waved his hand, turning the hail of bullets in raindrops. He ducked behind a boulder next to Genesis. 

“Be more subtle! Are you  _ trying _ to advertise what you are?”

“I’m trying not to get shot! Not everyone is as fast as you are.”

Cloud went to peek over the rock, just for Genesis to grab him by the top of the head and shove him back down. 

“Then stop taking stupid risks!”

Cloud scowled at him and rolled his eyes. Instead of addressing that, he set his palms on the dirt in front of him. 

“What are you up to now?” Genesis asked. 

“Giving us a way out,” Cloud explained as the dirt before them yawned. It sank and gave way to a deepening hole and an appearing set of stairs. Cloud calmly walked down them as they formed, opening the hole ever wider, until there was a small room around him. He reached above him, turning the ceiling to stone, before he poked his head out and asked, “Are you coming?”

Genesis, bewildered by the process, took a moment before he followed Cloud down. He had to duck to fit—the room was crafted to fit a man of Cloud’s stature, and Genesis had quite a few inches on the blond. Cloud left a hole about a fist wide to allow for air flow. He then turned to face Genesis, folding his arms and ignoring the continued sounds of gunfire. 

“What was  _ your _ plan to escape?”

Genesis looked at him in irritation. He understood that he and Cloud had gotten off on the wrong foot, and that it was largely his doing. This only became clear after Cloud had finished healing his head, and it felt like a curtain slowly drawing back as he worked. He understood now that his mind had been addled, and he’d been more hostile than necessary. 

Still, he hadn’t apologized. He was not a man who did so easily, so he was waiting to see if Cloud would give up on the bad blood between them. Angeal would have by now, but he gathered Cloud was not exactly his old friend. He reminded Genesis of himself in some ways. Certainly in how he refused to be polite now that Genesis had soured things. 

“I planned to kill them all.”

“See? Better this way. No one has to die.”

“It would be better if they did. Fewer people on our tail.”

“Do you really not care about the body count? Those are  _ people _ , Genesis.”

“I simply don’t revere mankind the way you seem to.”

Okay, maybe he wasn’t doing a great job of being diplomatic still. 

“Your kind is capable of great things—kind  _ and _ cruel. Half the time, people are wishing to be saved from what your kind does to their own. I  _ know _ humans aren’t fit to be revered.”

“You don’t exactly act like it,” Genesis grumbled, wondering what he was doing. He was trying to  _ end _ this feud with Cloud, not continue it. He just kept digging this hole deeper. 

Cloud plopped down on the dirt floor and crossed his arms. 

“I hardly revere  _ you _ , do I?”

“ _ That’s  _ true,” Genesis muttered, glancing back at Cloud in time to see him scowl. Genesis sighed then, sweeping his hair from his eyes. “Cloud, it appears I owe you an… apology.”

“This ought to be rich,” Cloud mumbled. Genesis shot him a glare. 

“I was not myself when you first arrived. I suspect my mind was affected by the degradation. After your healing, it occurs to me that I was… waspish.”

“‘Waspish’ is generous.”

“An asshole, then.”

Cloud snorted his amusement. When Genesis looked back at him, his expression was softer. He shrugged and unfolded his arms. 

“Far be it from me to hold a man’s illness against him. Fresh start then?”

“If you’re amenable.”

Cloud smiled, and even Genesis could admit it was charming in its warmth. 

“Hi, Genesis. I’m Cloud. Nice to meet you.”

Oh, no. That was cute too. 

“A pleasure, Cloud,” Genesis said, not quite able to keep the purr out of his voice. He told himself it was fine, that if Cloud was trying to be charming, so could he. They would be stuck together for a while yet, after all. No harm in trying to make things smoother between them. 

He neglected to consider that Cloud was being genuine and had no agenda. 

“So. How long do you think we’ll be stuck here?” Cloud asked. His feet tapped alternately at the air as he sat on his hands. Had he always been this endearing? Had he missed it in his anger? Was he letting his guard down in the wake of Genesis’s apology? 

“I couldn’t say,” Genesis admitted, coming to sit in front of Cloud. “It’s hard to judge how long they’ll keep up the search, but they can be stubborn.”

“No reason we can’t outwait them,” Cloud said. 

“Are all the star’s names related to the sky?”

Cloud blinked at the sudden change of topic, but Genesis wouldn’t apologize for it. There were better things to discuss than Shinra’s machinations. 

Cloud looked genuinely amused when he said, “No, everyone back home thinks my name is corny. I’m named after my mother, Claudia. She was trying to make the name less feminine. I’m not sure she did a great job, considering.”

“I think it suits you.”

“Because I’m a star?”

“Because of your nature.”

“What are you saying? That I’m soft?”

“A bit.”

“I was as big an asshole as you were.”

Genesis gave a genuine smile at this. 

“Nothing wrong with your silver lining being made of steel.”

“Oh gods, did you really just say that?  _ Corny _ ,” Cloud said, but he also laughed brightly, so Genesis forgave him. 

“I’d apologize, but you seemed to enjoy it.”

“I like seeing a less asshole-ish side of you, yeah,” Cloud said, a wide, dopey grin on his face. 

“I suppose I can consider being accommodating,” Genesis said, amusement softening his gaze.

“If you’re being accommodating, can I heal you? While we’re stuck here waiting anyway?” Cloud asked, folding his legs and holding his hands out expectantly. 

Genesis shifted forward into the gap left, leaning forward to be in Cloud’s reach. 

“What are you healing next? Now that my dysfunctional brain is back online.”

“Might as well just work from the top down,” Cloud said, cupping his hands around the base of Genesis’s skull and onto his neck. 

It was an intimate hold to be in. Genesis found himself achingly aware of the touch and fighting to be as still as possible. 

There was a beat of silence. 

“Tell me about your friends,” Cloud tried, meeting Genesis’s eyes. 

“What about them?”

“How did you meet them? What are they like?”

“Angeal I met as a boy; we grew up in the same town. He was poor as a child, but honest. Hardworking. That hasn’t changed. He was so different from the people trying to be friends with me for my parents’ money. As much as he could have used the handout, he never asked. He’s honorable—dreadfully so, at times. He’s always looking to help. He has such high expectations, for himself and others, but he’s always willing to help you try and reach them. 

“Sephiroth I met at Shinra. He’s not much like Angeal at all. He’s cold, and calculating, and follows any order he’s given without thought. He’s hardheaded, and can be spiteful, and is an absolute genius, the bastard. He’s always been those things. But there’s this… softness to him, when he finally allows you in. He won’t say it, but he craves kindness like a fish craves water. He’s been starved for gentleness, and it shows. As much as I enjoy stepping up as his rival, I arguably enjoy giving him that kindness more. He never seems to expect it, no matter how much time has passed.”

There was a long pause, before Cloud softly said, “I wish you would have asked them to come with you. I think they would have.”

Genesis shook his head, saying, “Angeal struggles to break even paltry vows—he wouldn’t have it in him to desert. And Sephiroth, he’s been under Shinra’s thumb his whole life. He doesn’t know how to rebel. They’d call him back and he’d go running like a dog that had been whistled at.”

Cloud was ready to scold him for the comment, but his tone wasn’t biting. It was just sad. 

“You underestimate your importance to them. If Angeal is so honor-bound, he would follow you. Loyalty to friends comes before loyalty to a company. And it sounds like you’ve been one of Sephiroth’s only sources of kindness. He won’t have forgotten that. You should have asked them.”

Genesis looked thoughtful as he considered this, but eventually, he sighed. 

“It doesn’t matter, now. I didn’t, and I can’t go back.”

“Maybe we can find a way. Shinra’s looking for you, after all. Maybe they’ll send one of your friends.”

“If they are as inclined as you say to follow me, why would they help hunt me down?”

“As an excuse to find you, of course. What better way to track you down for themselves than making use for all the resources at their disposal, including Shinra’s?”

Genesis hummed. He tapped his fingers on his knee in thought. 

“It can’t hurt to look for them before we run, next time.”

The smile Cloud favored him with was warm as afternoon sunshine. 

“What do they look like? I’ll help you look.”

“Angeal is tall and muscular, chin length black hair, overlarge sword strapped to his back that he doesn’t use. He dresses much as you are right now. Sephiroth is tall but lean, with long silver hair. His sword is eight feet long and narrow. He dresses in a strange leather get-up with his chest bared.”

“... You have odd friends.”

“I’m an odd man.”

Cloud laughed, the sound light and bright as bells. 

“You are. But an interesting one. I don’t regret my wisher not being a child as much, when you’re not being an asshole.”

“Was that what you hoped for? A child?”

“Of course; it’s what we all fall expecting. Someone wide-eyed and hopeful, who will look at us with wonder and glee.”

“Seems shallow,” Genesis said, but his soft smile belied his words. 

“Shut up,” Cloud said, but he said it while laughing. “We’re all taught to make it magical experience for these kids. It always seemed like fun to me.”

“Sorry to spoil your fun.”

“You’re fun in your own way.”

“I  _ think _ I’m flattered.”

Cloud laughed again and said, “I meant it as a compliment.”

“In that case, I am most certainly flattered.”

Somehow, inexplicably, Cloud blushed, despite having been the one to give the compliment. Perhaps it had something to do with Genesis’s tone as he said it. Regardless, he fell into bashful silence. 

Genesis cursed how charming Cloud was when they weren’t at each other’s throats. 


End file.
